Tobacco ash receptacle



Nov. 29, 1960 N. H. NELSON 2,952,181

TOBACCO ASH RECEPTACLE Filed Nov. 18, 1957 W A I MM '1 1 g I7 :1 a4, 1 P

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Mus H. Maison W? b A WW United States Patent TOBACCO ASH RECEPTACLE Nels H. Nelson, West Okoboji, Rte. 1, Milford, Iowa Filed Nov. 18, 1957, Ser. No. 697,154

Claims. (Cl. 220-1) This invention relates to tobacco ash receptacles and more particularly to a container used in connection with and to the top of an instrument panel of automotive vehicles such as automobiles, trucks, airplanes, trains and like.

The use of ash receptacles on the instrument panels of automobiles is now common. However, such vehicle ash receptacles are costly to manufacture and require the user to snuff out the cigar, cigarette or like on a grid in the top of the receptacle prior to placing the cigarette or cigar butt in the receptacle. This latter requirement is not only unsanitary and inconvenient, but in the case of the driver of the vehicle it is dangerous, due to the fact that he must, at least momentarily, take his eyes from the roadway, observe the operation, and use one hand for grinding out the ignited tobacco.

Therefore, the principal object of my invention is to provide a small, compact tobacco ash receptacle that automatically extinguishes the lighted cigar or cigarette.

A further object of this invention is to provide an ash receptacle that has a yieldable odor and/or smoke baffie that is free of spring means.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a smokestand or like tobacco ash receptacle that is easily kept in a clean and sanitary condition.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a smokestand receptacle that is economical in manufacture, refined in appearance, and durable in use.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side sectional view of my device supported in the instrument compartment of an automotive vehicle,

Fig. 2 is a side view, partially in section, of the baflie arrangement of the device and more fully illustrates its construction,

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view of my ash receptacle taken on line 3-3 of Fig. l, and

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view of my device taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Although any ash receptacle construction may be used in smokestands, desk ash receptacles and like, I show it associated with the instrument panel unit of an automotive vehicle. I have used the numeral to designate the top horizontal portion of an instrument panel unit. In this top 10, 1 form a circular hole 11. The marginal edge portion of the top 10 is depressed as shown in Fig. 1. The numeral 12 designates the base hopper top of my ash receptacle having its wall 13 extending downwardly and inwardly terminating into a downwardly extending neck portion 14, as shown in Fig. l. The numeral 15 designates a jar detachably threaded onto the base hopper top and loosely embracing the neck portion 14. The

2,962,181 Patented Nov. 29, 1960 numeral 16 designates a stop ring portion on the periphery of the base hopper top portion and above the jar 15. The circular hole 11 is of a diameter slightly greater than that of the diameter of the jar 15. The stop ring 16 is of a diameter greater than that of the diameter of the hole 11. By this construction my device is detachably lowered downwardly through the hole 11 until it is stopped by the stop ring 16. The stop ring engages the top of the instrument panel top 10, thus supporting the entire ash receptacle unit. By the panel top being depressed in the area adjacent the hole 11, the ash receptacle will be substantially flush with the top plane of the panel top, as shown in Fig. l. The numeral 17 designates a cigarette holding rack on the top of the base hopper top. This rack also serves as a handle means for facilitating the manual lifting of the ash receptacle unit from the hole 11 or placing the ash receptacle into the hole 11. The numeral 19 designates an inverted cone bafile member embracing and secured to the outer lower end area of the neck portion. The top plane of the baffie is substantially below the bottom plane of the base hopper top portion, as shown in Fig. 1, to provide an odor and/ or smoke trap area 20. The numeral 21 designates radial slit passageways in the baflie cone 19 near its center, as shown in Fig. 3. These slits terminate in an enlarged hole opening at their outer ends. The numeral 25 designates a cone bafile. The top of this bafile 25 is flexibly connected to the inverted bafile cone 19 by a chain linkage 26 or like secured to the top apex of the cone bafile and the cone baflle 19, as shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 1. By this arrangement of parts only one side top of the cone bafile will be in a vertical plane below the opening of the neck portion. Normally the cone baffle 25 will be held against swinging movement by gravity. Its balance, however, is delicate and when a cigarette butt or like is dropped to pass downwardly through the neck opening, the cigarette will strike the side of the cone baffie and swing the cone baflie laterally, as shown by broken lines in Fig. 1, thereby permitting the cigarette butt to fall into the bottom area of the container 15. After the cigarette butt has passed the cone bafile 25, the cone baffle 25 will by force of gravity return to a normal position where one of its sides will extend in space relationship completely under the neck opening. With the cone bafile back into normal position, any smoke or odor from the cigarette butt will be deflected away from the open neck and back up and into the trap area 20. Any downward movement of the smoke or like will pass from the area 20 through the slots 21, thence be baffled by the cone 25 toward the bottom area of the container. By such an arrangement of parts, the lit cigarette butt may be dropped into the container and will automatically be extinguished. The diameter of the cone baffie 25 is more than twice the diameter of the neck opening and therefore only one side portion is below the neck opening and one side area is completely outside the vertical plane of the neck opening.

Herebefore smokestands have had bafiies, but either the baflie was rigid or spring supported directly below the neck opening. Such structures readily become distorted. By suspending my baffie 25 flexibly to the neck portion and ofi'set relative to the neck opening, I have provided a tobacco ash receptacle that is most durable, sanitary and capable of receiving any size object that will pass through the neck opening. Due to the delicately balanced cone bafile 25, it is easily pushed to one side.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my Tobacco Ash Receptacle without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included Within their scope.

I claim:

1. In an ash receptacle, a container, a hopper top having a single vertical neck opening communicating with the inside of said hopper top, and a cone bafile operatively flexibly suspended from said hopper top and offset relative to the vertical plane of the vertical neck opening of said hopper top.

2. In an ash receptacle, a container, a hopper top having a single vertical neck opening communicating with the inside of said hopper top, a cone baffie operatively flexibly suspended from said hopper top and oifset relative to the vertical plane of the vertical neck opening of said hopper top, and an inverted cone battle in a plane above the plane of said first cone bafile.

3. In an ash receptacle, a container, a hopper top having a single vertical neck opening communicating with the inside of said hopper top, a cone bafiie operatively flexibly suspended from said hopper top and offset relative to the vertical plane of the vertical neck opening of said hopper top, and an inverted cone bafiie in a plane above the plane of said first cone baffie; said inverted cone baflle having passageways.

4. In an ash receptacle, a container, a hopper top having a single vertical neck opening communicating with the inside of said hopper top, a cone bafile operatively flexibly suspended from said hopper top and offset relative to the vertical plane of the vertical neck opening of said hopper top, and an inverted cone bafile in a plane above the plane of said first cone bafile; said inverted cone bafiie having radially extending slit passageways.

5. In an ash receptacle, a container, a hopper top having a single vertical hole communicating with the inside of said container, and a cone baffle operatively flexibly suspended from said hopper top, having a diameter substantially twice as great as that of the diameter of the vertical hole of said hopper top and having one complete side area extending outside of the vertical plane of the hole of said hopper top.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 65,500 Needham June 4, 1867 1,719,925 Cruess July 9, 1929 1,767,476 Putterman June 24, 1930 2,797,136 Nelson June 25, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 306,740 Great Britain Feb. 28, 1929 734,831 France Aug. 8, 1932 

